Dual wield partner for Spectral Brand in TOB?
M0tan
Member Posts: 61
I'm playing a Stalker and currently dual wield Spectral Brand +4 with Usuno's Blade +4. I recently replaced my off hand. I had Celestial Fury before, and Belm before that (but I got bored of it's +2, I wanted something better).
Based on my proficiencies, are there any better weapon combos for me? I am more or less at the beginning of TOB (doing the WK right now). (I thing Spectral Brand is good for my main, especially after I'll upgrade it).
Scimitar ++
Long Sword ++
Katana ++
Longbow ++
Flail/Morning Star +
Mace +
Two weapon style +++
As for play style I like to hide in shadow and do lots of Backstab if possible. I'm not doing a solo run, I'm in a party: Keldorn, Anomen, Mazzy, Jan and Neera.
cheers.
P.S. As far as I know I have all the weapons from SOA. I didn't miss any of them.
Based on my proficiencies, are there any better weapon combos for me? I am more or less at the beginning of TOB (doing the WK right now). (I thing Spectral Brand is good for my main, especially after I'll upgrade it).
Scimitar ++
Long Sword ++
Katana ++
Longbow ++
Flail/Morning Star +
Mace +
Two weapon style +++
As for play style I like to hide in shadow and do lots of Backstab if possible. I'm not doing a solo run, I'm in a party: Keldorn, Anomen, Mazzy, Jan and Neera.
cheers.
P.S. As far as I know I have all the weapons from SOA. I didn't miss any of them.
0
Comments
Answerer (drop the target's stats on hit, best weapon in the game for a party)
Angurvadal (cheap and cheerful ice and fire weapon mix)
Crom Faeyr (doesn't need proficiency, backstab with your forehand)
Answerer - I don't have it yet.
Angurvadal - Also don't have it yet, I just started lvl 4 WK so I'll have it shortly. But I need Liquid Mercury to upgrade it.
Crom Faeyr - is used by Anomen as an off-hand weapon. His main is Flail of Aegis (+4 for now).
Defender of Everard: Makes you tankier without any fash.
Hindo's Doom: Immune to death spells and 10% MR and you can pick it up in WK.
Axe of the Unyielding: Even without proficiency this is a decent defensive offhand pick.
For backstabbing I think the best to worst would go like this:
Big Metal Unit
Staf of the Ram +4, (+6 the extra damage is crushing, I believe, and doesn't multiply)
Angurvadal +5
And from there it gets more muddled. Do you want max POSSIBLE damage or max GUARANTEED damage. Since you are running a Stalker and have no access to maxing damage via cleric spell or Kensai ability I think that max guaranteed damage would be better. Seriously, assassin dualed to cleric after getting UAI, Simulacrum + Black Blade of Disaster + Wizard Eye is obscene. Walk around chunking anything that can be backstabbed. Anyway
Below those weapons it's mostly preference. Two lower level weapons that are so much better than they seem are Staff of Striking and Namarra +2. +9 for the Staff(non-magical though) and +4 for Namarra are incredible for backstabbing almost as soon as leaving Irenicus' fun house.
Offhand though best bets are:
Kundane
Belm
Crom Faeyr
Axe of the Unyealding
Defender if you have it
Angurvadal
Well, that is my opinion anyway. I think that Kundane and Belm are very hard to beat for damage dealers. Improved Haste on your Stalker would give you 9 attacks with Spectral Brand and one crap one per round.
Even if it doesn't hit, the stun effect can turn a battle.
Especially in TOB with the large mob attacks.
You can effectively run around stunning enemies one after the other and let the others chop them up.
A stunned Fire giant can't hit anything, for instance.
from wiki:
"Every opponent hit by this weapon has a 15% chance that 4 levels are drained, while healing the wielder of the blade with 20 points, hasting him and raising the wielder's strength for 20 seconds. Raising the strength is cumulative up to the maximum strength of 25!"
the effect of IH and 25str is crazy strong and in my testing is more the time the welder is under it than the time is not....
mage casts PFMW, backstabbed and problem solved, mages have bad AC and HP.
my choice of weapons for dw is the one Anomen uses, or FoA and a +1apr OH if i need many belts for enhancing str (thing that in my typical parties where everybody must cast and must fight, slings benefit from str using magical bullets, is quite common). but as Anomen uses them you anyway benefit of FoA, whose slowing effect is probably more powerful that his raw damage.
What i can tell you is that even if i used many times blackrazor on my blades and other characters i never had a single kill for level draining, and with bosses and others that carry the really useful loot is even more unlikely as they have high level and the draining happens only on 15% of the hits. let's say you fight a lev 20 foe he needs 5 level drains, so about 40 hits, as after the first you fight with 25 str (assuming you have a str enhancer to begin with) so you will kill him for damage anyway, given the damage of weapon + the 14dmg/hit of str.
unless you continue to hit a mage protected by multiple stoneskins, that let pass trough the drain and not the damage or constantly cast healing spells on the enemy i don't see how he can survive enough to die for level draining.
it is useful as makes the mages loose spells and spell levels (when the spells are not anyway cast by scripts), and lowers fighter's thac0, but i can not remember a single time that i had an enemy level drained to death.
Edit: also lowering their ST is something that can not be ignored, give to someone 4 or 8 levels less and probably will save a lot less against vorpal weapons, spells, wands and anything related to ST.
the strength of blackrazor is that it nerfs every enemy not immune to level drain while buffs for free your character, and welding a +1apr off hand the buff happens early in the fight and lasts until it ends as in more than 3 (IH and +1apr w. OH) rounds is almost sure that is applied again.
and the improved anti undead axe, negative plan protection on top of a ranged weapon that has good chance to vorpal kill undeads, have someone equipping it hasted and many lich battles are won before they begin to set up defenses.
water's talon is anyway fantastic, it is my usual choice for jaheira in my modded original runs.
what i also utterly appreciated was the melting together boots and rings with some other components.
a lot less going to inventory and change rings and boots.
EDIT: fulcrum is a club not a mace, and i did perfectly know it ( using it with jaheira and some backstabbing thieves) but for some reason i wrote multiple times mace.